Ingenuity of the West

Arthur Chrenkoff:

Iraq is slowly becoming a testing ground for some non-lethal military technologies, particularly those designed to deal with suspected suicide car bombs:

- Nets that pop up remotely from the road and ensnare the wheels and suspensions of oncoming vehicles.

- Instant oil slicks that cause vehicles to skid and crash and pedestrians to fall down.

- Military paint-ball guns that coat windshields to blind drivers of oncoming cars. Some troops are trying small lasers to temporarily blind opponents in cars or on foot.

- Venom, a system of small mortar-like tubes that fire rounds that explode like fireworks at a range of up to 200 yards away. The pyrotechnics keep suspect vehicles or people away. Although the rounds are still in testing, the Marines have committed $14 million to buy 250 units.

The military hopes to develop guns that fire energy pulses that destroy ignitions or other critical components to cause a car or truck to stop. A prototype of such a system is probably five years off...

This brings to mind the varied Allied scientists and engineers during WWII. They worked at breakneck speed to neutralize the onslaught of the Axis powers. For example, when the Blitz started, the Brits found out a way to mess with the aviation of German planes which led to quite a few of them going astray towards rural areas. Chickens often paid the price for this life-saving creativity.

It is, again, assuring and amazing to see the genius in the West help the war effort of the Free World.